The Seasteading Institute , a self-described “society of ocean pioneers” has announced the winners of its first-ever 3-D design competition–five visions for floating a housing development the size of a small town on an ocean platform.

The Institute, founded by Patri Friedman, a 32-year-old former software engineer at Google, wants to make offshore living workable. With funding from a top-tier VC, the Institute eventually hopes to produce open-source blueprints usable by anyone intent on creating their own country. They’ve already produced a design for a $50 million platform.

But the current concepts aren’t intended to be built–rather, it’s an exercise to promote the concept–to visualize what a life offshore might be like. Here’s the five winners, culled from 41 entries:

“Swimming City” designed by 27-year-old Hungarian graphic designer Andras Gyorf, took the grand prize of $1,000. It’s the most traditional of the schemes. Step away the floating platform, and the design could easily be a mixed-use redevelopment of factory lofts in Dallas:

Minneapolis-based architecture grad student Emerson Stepp didn’t exactly present a new concept for society and government–which is, after all, the Seasteading Institute’s stated goal–but his design was good enough to win the Best Picture Award. Stepp’s “Oasis of the Sea” is a floating resort that would be the end point for a luxurious cruise: